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By admin: Jan. 12, 2022

12th January: National Youth Day

Tags: Important Days

The theme for National Youth Day 2022 is “It’s all in the mind,” a key teaching of Swami Vivekananda.

Every year 12th January the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is celebrated across India as National Youth Day, to honour one of the greatest philosophers and spiritual leaders.

• The decision to celebrate Vivekananda’s birthday as National Youth Day was taken in 1984, and it was first marked on January 12, 1985.

About Swami Vivekananda:

• A towering spiritual philosopher, Vivekananda, was born in 1863 in Kolkata and is credited for popularising the Vedantic ideas.
• Swami Vivekananda was the chief disciple of 19th century mystic and yogi Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
• He founded the Ramakrishna Math, a monastic order based on his guru’s teachings in Kolkata and a worldwide spiritual movement known as the Ramakrishna Mission based on the ancient Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.
• The revival of modern Hinduism and inspiring nationalist consciousness during colonial rule are considered to be the major achievements of Swami Vivekananda and he is best known for his famous 1893 speech at the first World’s Parliament of Religion held at Chicago, US, where he introduced Hinduism to the Western world.

India’s passport rank improves to 83 from 90 on Henley Passport Index 2022

Tags: National News

India has improved its passport power for the year 2022, climbing seven places to rank 83rd compared to last year's 90th position as it now has access to 60 countries that don't require a prior visa.

• Henley passport Index ranks a country's passport according to the number of destinations the holder of the passport can visit without a visa.
• A visa is an official document which is issued by a country to a foreigner allowing it to legally visit the country. Passport is a proof of citizenship which is issued by a country to its citizen.

Henley Passport Index 2022 Highlights:

• The Henley Passport Index compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. If no visa is required, then a score of 1 is created for that passport. Where a visa is required a score of 0 is given.
• The country which has the maximum point is ranked at the top and the country which has the least point is ranked last.
• The country which ranked at the top is Japan and Singapore with a value of 192 points. The Japanese and Singapore passports are considered to be the most powerful passports in the world.
• At the second rank was Germany and South Korea with a value of 190.
• India was ranked 83 with a value score of 60.
• Afghanistan was ranked last at 111^th position with a value score of 26.

Suspension of MLA is worse than expulsion - Supreme Court of India

Tags: National News

The Supreme Court of India observed that suspension from the Legislative Assembly for a year is “worse” than expulsion, as it affects the right of a constituency to remain represented in the House, otherwise it will create a constitutional void.

• The observation came, while a bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, which was hearing the pleas filed by 12 BJP MLAs who have challenged their one­ year suspension from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer.
• The Supreme Court said the House cannot suspend a member beyond 59 days based on the statutory obligation under Article 190(4). 
• Article 190 (4) of the Constitution says that if for a period of 60 days, a member of a House, without its permission, is absent, the House may declare his or her seat vacant.

PM inaugurates 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry

Tags: National News

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the 25th National Youth Festival in Puducherry, via video conferencing today.   Today, being the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is observed as National Youth Day.

• During the event, the Prime Minister unveiled selected essays on “Mere Sapno ka Bharat” and “Unsung Heroes of Indian Freedom Movement”. 
• These essays have been selected from submissions by over 1 lakh youth on the two themes. 
• The Prime Minister also inaugurated a Technology Centre of the MSME Ministry, established at Puducherry with an investment of about Rs. 122 crore. 
• The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam - an auditorium with an open-air theatre, constructed by the Government of Puducherry at a cost of about Rs 23 crores.

For more details about National Youth Festival kindly see January 6, 2022 post.

South Korean trade minister’s visit to India

Tags: National News

South Korean trade minister Yeo Han-Koo visited India on 11th January and agreed to expand trade by upgrading the existing bilateral agreement and resolving industry specific issues to achieve $50 billion bilateral trade by 2030.

Highlight of the visit:

• Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his counterpart agreed to impart fresh momentum to the discussions on CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) up-gradation negotiations.
• They also agreed to promote extensive B2B (business-to-business) interactions on trade and investment between the industry leaders of the two countries.
• The two ministers agreed with “the spirit of openness” to address difficulties expressed by industry from both sides and instructed their respective negotiating teams to meet on a regular basis in order to conclude the CEPA up-gradation negotiations as soon as possible to achieve the target of $50 billion before 2030, which was agreed at the summit meeting in 2018.
• South Korea is one of the key investors in India, it’s total foreign direct investment to India up to September 2020 was about $6.94 billion.

Protest against Kerala’s Silverline Project

Tags: State News

The Opposition parties in Kerala, are spearheading the agitation against the Pinarayi Vijayan’s government-led Silverline Semi high-Speed Railway Project in some parts of the state.

What is the Silverline Project

• The Thiruvananthapuram–Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail Corridor, also known as the Silver Line, is a proposed higher-speed railway in India that would connect Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, with Kasaragod, the northernmost district of Kerala.
• The 529.45 km corridor, with an operating speed of 200kmph, eases the transport between the North and south ends of the state and reduces the total travel time to less than 4 hours, compared with the present 10 to 12 hours. 
• The intermediate stations include Kollam, Chengannur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kochi Airport, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Who is funding the project

The ₹63,941­crore Silverline project is a joint venture of the State government and the Ministry of Railways.

Why are there protests against Kerala’s Silverline project

Opposition parties are protesting against the project stating various reasons-

• It is not financially viable and will pull the state further into debt. 
• As per environmental activists' assessment, the project will lead to the displacement of at least 20,000 families and around 50,000 commercial establishments. 
• Furthermore, environmentalists are of the view that the project will cause great environmental harm because its route cuts through wetlands, almost 145 hectares of paddy fields, and hills. The building of embankments on either side of the major portion of the line will block natural drainage and cause floods during heavy rains. 

According to the Ministry of Railways, rail routes that can run trains at the speed of 160 Km per hour to 200Km per hour are considered Semi-High speed trains.

Petta Thullal held at Erumely

Tags: State News

Petta Thullal, the ritualistic sacred dance marking the last leg of the annual two months-long Sabarimala pilgrimage season was held at Erumely,Kerala on 11th January 2021.

Teams of Ayyappa devotees from Ambalappuzha and Alangad performed the ceremonial mass dance.

Sabarimala Temple 

• The Sabarimala Temple is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Pathanamthitta District, Kerala. 
• It is one of the largest annual pilgrimage sites in the world with an estimate of over 40 to 50 million devotees visiting every year. 
• The temple is dedicated to a Hindu Brahmachari deity Ayyappan also known as Dharma Shasta, who according to belief is the son of Shiva and Mohini, the feminine incarnation of Vishnu.
•  The traditions of Sabarimala are a confluence of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and other Śramaṇa traditions.

U.S. announces $308 mn in aid for Afghanistan as crisis grows

Tags: International News

The United States has announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan as it edges towards a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

• The United States will donate an extra $308m in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the White House has announced, bringing the total of US aid for Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in the region to nearly $782m since October.
• The aid will be channelled through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to humanitarian organisations providing shelter, healthcare, and emergency food aid, among other services.
• In August 2021 the US government froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation after Taliban took over the country. The US has designated the Taliban in its sanction list and no funds can be provided to the Taliban government by the US government or by its banks.
• No country in the world recognises Taliban government in Kabul.

United Nation’s biggest appeal:

• Meanwhile, the United Nations said that it needed $5 billion in aid for Afghanistan in 2022 to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and offer the ravaged country a future after 40 years of suffering.

India agrees to allow import of U.S. pork products

Tags: International News

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced on 11 January 2022, that the Government of India has agreed to allow imports of U.S. pork and pork products into India.

• This is a part of a deal with the Government of India where India will import Pork and pork products, Alfalfa hay and cherries from the US and will export mangoes and pomegranate to the US.
•  This news follows the successful revitalization of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum held in New Delhi in November 2021 during the visit of Katherine Tai to India.
• The  export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the USA since 2020 as USDA (US Department of Agriculture) inspectors were unable to visit India for inspection of irradiation facilities due restrictions imposed on international travel because of Covid-19 pandemic,” 
• In 2019-20, India exported 1,095 MillionTonnes  of mangoes  worth $4.35 million to the United States.

Vodafone-Idea to issue equity shares to Government in lieu of AGR dues and Interest

Tags: Economics/Business

Telecom major Vodafone -Idea has decided to issue equity shares to the Government of India in lieu of the interest on its Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and on spectrum installment during the four year moratorium period.

• Following the conversion of AGR dues, the Government will hold around 35.8% of the total outstanding shares of the Company, while the promoters Vodafone and Aditya Birla Group would hold around 28.5% and around 17.8% stake in the company, respectively. 
• The net present value of interest is expected to be about Rs 16,000 crore, following final confirmation by the Department of Telecommunications.
• The equity shares will be issued to the government at par value of Rs 10 per share.

For detail on the telecom AGR and other due click the below link:

Telecom sector and AGR woes

Pig’s heart in human

Tags: Science and Technology

Surgeons in the United States have transplanted a pig’s heart in a human patient that represents a remarkable first in the world of medical science, one whose success could potentially end the years-long backlog of people waiting to get a healthy organ and open up a new world of opportunities.

• The highly experimental surgery was performed on a 57 year old Maryland resident, David Bennett at the University of Maryland Medicine (UMM) on January 7, 2022.
• Surgeon Dr. Bartley P Griffith conducted the first-in-the-world surgery.

Gene editing by the United States biotech firm Revivicor:

• The transplanted heart was harvested from the pig that had undergone genetic editing. 
• The scientists removed the three genes of the pig  “that would have led to rejection of an animal's heart by the human body” along with the one that would have led to the excessive growth of pig’s heart tissues.
• Further six human genes that would have facilitated the organ’s acceptance by the human body were inserted into the pig genome, meaning that a total of 10 unique edits were carried out in the pig.

Xenotransplantation:

The process of transplanting or grafting of animal organs is known as Xenotransplantation.

Points to Know:

• The world’s first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa on 3 December 1967.
•  In India the first heart transplant was  done by Dr. Prafulla Sen on 16 February 1968 in Bombay now Mumbai, however the patient died on the same day 
• The first successful heart transplant in India was done by a team of Doctors led by Dr. P. Venugopal at AIIMS, New Delhi on 3 August 1994. 

South African all rounder Chris Morris retires from all forms of cricket

Tags: Sports News

• 
• 34-year-old South Africa all rounder Chris Morris announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and declared that he is set to take up the new role of coaching the domestic team Titans.
• A right arm pacer and explosive batter, Morris made his Test debut in 2016 and featured in only four games in the traditional format, making 173 runs and taking 12 wickets. He also played 42 ODIs (48 wickets, 467 runs) and 23 T20 Internationals (34, 133).  
• Morris played for Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings franchises in the IPL.

Tata Group replaces Vivo as the title sponsor of IPL 2022-23 editions

Tags: Sports News

The Tata Group has replaced Vivo as the title sponsor for the Indian Premier League 2022 and 2023 editions.

• This decision was taken by the IPL Governing Council after Vivo decided to pull out of its existing contract running till 2023
• The mega auctions for the 15th Edition of IPL will take place in Bengaluru from Feb 12 - 13, 2022.
• The two new teams of Ahmedabad and Lucknow will participate for the first time in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League.
• Lucknow IPL team is owned by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group with its home ground as Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh.
• Ahmedabad IPL team is owned by British private equity company CVC Capital with its home ground as Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad Gujarat.
• Chairman of IPL Governing Council - Brijesh Patel

Former Supreme Court Judge Indu Malhotra to head the inquiry committee on PM’s Security lapse

Tags: Person in news

The Supreme Court has appointed former SC Judge Indu Malhotra, as the chairperson to head the 5 members inquiry committee.

• The order was passed on 12th January 2022, by a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana and also comprising Justices Surya Kant  and Hima Kohli.
• The 5-member panel will be headed by the Justice (Retired) Indu Malhotra and the other members of the committee are DG-NIA, DG Security of Punjab and Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

For more information about the SC panel refer to the post of 11th January 2022.

Boxer Lovlina Borgohain appointed DSP in Assam Police

Tags: Person in news

Tokyo Olympics Bronze Medalist, 23-year-old-Boxer Lovlina Borgohain was appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP in Assam Police.

• On 12th January 2022 in Guwahati, Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarna handed over the appointment letter to Lovlina.
• The appointment was made as per the sports policy of Assam government.